Art of astd mechanism for renewing- warp ibt looms



T. P. GATES.

ART OF AND MECHANISM FOR RENEWING WARP IN LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18. I918.

1,818,442. Patented -t.14,1919.

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T P. GATESx ART OF AND MECHANISM FOR RENEWING WARP m LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18,1918.

1,818,4%2. Patenmd Oct. 14,1919.

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ART OF AND MECHANISM FOR RENEWING WARP lN LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18.19I8.

1,318,442. Patented 0m. 14,1919.

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ART OF AND MECHANISM Specificatiod of Letters Patent.

F B R NEWING WARP IN LOOMS.

Patented oct. 11.4. was.

Application filed December 1s, 1918. Serial No. 267,244.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I. THAYER P. GATES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented'a new and useful Improvement in the Art of and Mechanism for Renewing Warp in Looms, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

In the operation of looms, after a warp beam approaches exhaustion and it becomes necessary to furnish a. new supply of warp, it is customary to stop the loom, remove the old beam. insert a new beam, and individually tie, twist or knot the multitude of old threads to the corresponding threads of the new warp beam. This operation is long and tedious and while it is proceeding the loom is necessarily idle and its productive capacity-is therefore seriously diminished.

To a limited extent another system has been utilized which obviates any prolonged stoppage of the loom. This system involves the employment of a duplicate set of mechanism, comprising duplicate heddles and a duplicate reed, one or the other set of which mechanism is used on the loom in the ordinary way, while, during the operation of the loom, the ends of the warp are one by one properly drawn through and engaged with the duplicate loom harness, which, at the time, is detached from the loom. hen the warp beam on the loom has been exhausted, the harness on the loom, as well as the old warp beam, are removed and the new harness and new warp beam substituted. While this operation involves the loss of some time, the main objection to the scheme is the expense of providing a great deal of expensive duplicate loom mechanism. Moreover, there is some waste of yarn, as the yarn on the old beam cannot be completely used up.

The object of my invention is to renew the warp on a loom by the removal of an old warp beam and the substitution of a new. warp beam with the warp ends of the two beams already tied together and to do this in such a way that no stoppage of the loom for any substantial length of time will be necessary, the use of a duplicate set of heddles, reed and associated mechanism will be altogether avoided, and waste of yarn will be practically eliminated.

While the invention involves the practice of an entirely new method which does not involve the employment of the specific mechanism herein shown and described, still such mechanism is well adapted to the carrying out of the new method and presents mechanical features and combinations of utility, importance and novelty. The mechanism is also capable of considerable modification without departing from its essential features of construction or essential mode of operation. The drawings, therefore, may be said to represent a preferred embodiment of my new machine or mechanism as well as a preferred way of carrying out my new method.

Figure l is a plan view of the compensating contrivance, a new warp beam wound with warp and an old practically exhausted warp beam mounted in the usual manner at the rear of the loom frame.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same mechanism.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a part of the compensator.

Figs. 4, 5. and 6 are diagrams indicating successive steps in the initial winding of a warp beam.

Fig. 7 is a partial view similar to Fig. 2.

Figs. 8 to 14 inclusive are diagrams illustrating the progressive extensions of the yarn and positions of the compensating mechanism from the beginning of the knotting until just before the transference of a new beam to the loom.

On the rear of the loom. frame is supported a warp beam a, the yarn from which extends over the tension bars or rollers 2 to the loom proper (not shown). This warp beam at, as well as the warp beam b, which is to replace it on,the loom, has been wound in a peculiar manner, which the following description, in connection with Figs. 4, 5 and 6, will make clear.

From any source of supply, as for example, cops 0, ends of warp thread are drawn over the shaft of the warp beam at, as shown in Fig. 4, onto a small supplemental or dummy warp beam 0, which is turned in the direction of the arrow, until a short length of warp (say 20 yards) is wound thereon, the main warp beam remaining stationary. The rotation of the supplemental beam is then stopped and the yarn, at the point where it is tangential to the shaft of the main beam, is pressed into a groove extending lengthwise of the shaft li y means of a longitudinally extending holding rod 1', which may be held in the groove by set screws at opposite ends of the beam. The main warp beam is now rotated in the. direction of the arrow, while the supplemental beamis allowed to turn freely in the opposite direction to feed off the yarn, which it. will do, after the main warp beam has made halt a turn, as shown in Fig. flhereafter. for several rotations of the main warp beam, a double length of yarn will be wound thereupon until the preliminary length of yarn has been exhausted, after which yarn is wound only from the source of supply. Then the warp beam has been wound it will contain the usual length of yarn, but at a short distance from one end the yarn will be clamped to the shaft of the beam, the remaining length of yarn having free. ends of another similarly wound warp beam, as hereinafter described.

If we assume that such a warp beam. so wound, with about twenty yards of free warp ends beyond the holder has been applied to a loom and the warp threaded through the harness. in the usual way and the loom operated as usual, it is clear that when the yarn on the beam has been unwound to within about forty yards of its end, or to within about twenty yards of the line. of attachment to the beam shaft by means of the holder 1', the free warp ends beyond the holder will begin to unwind. It is also clear that if these free ends are 'respect-ively attached to the long free ends of the yarn of another warp beam while the loom is utilizing that portion of the length of yarn adjacent to the points at which the threads were clamped to the shaft of the first beam, and the new warp beam then substituted for the old warp beam, the operation of the loom may be made practically continuous, with a minimum waste of yarn, without the necessity of employing a duplicate set of loom harness, without the eX- penditure of laborand loss of time involved in the substitution of one harness for another, and without any stoppage of the operation of the loom during the tying-up or twisting-in operation. This attachment of the threads ofone warp beam to another and the substitution of warp beams present certain practical diliiculties' which have been entirely overcome by the useof the mechanism shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

In these figures, 7' presents a frame in which turn a set of upper shafts and a corresponding set of lower shafts. Each shaft carries sprocket wheels 72, one at each end. -Sprocket chnifis h connect the two SGtS'Of shafts, there being one sprocket chain between each upper sprocket wheel and its corresponding lower sprocket wheeL' Secured to each pair of sprocket chalns free ends for attachment to the long.

, are two bars, 4', j, located at about directly the gear wheels of adjacent shafts being op eratively connected by means of intermediate idler gears 111. Thus a chain of gears is provided. all being driven from a gear wheel 01. engaging one of the gear whee-ls /t'.

On the shaft of gear I! is a drum 0. This shaft is driven from a hand-turnable shaft 15 through bevel gearing p, shaft. 1 and bevel gearing s.

The shaft 2 drives the shaft of the warp beam 1) through spur gears u. The spur gea r on shaft t is loose thereon. but may be operatively connected to the shaft. by means of the clutch 1 Around the drum 0 is coiled aflexible connection carrying weights "to.

After the free ends of warp have been partially unwound from the beam a, they are pulled by hand through the compensat ing device until their extremities reach about the point .2. At this time the rods 5 have been lowered and the rods 1' raised (by turning the hand-operated shaft in opposition to the pull of the weights 10) so that the rods'j are at a relatively high level and the rods i at a relatively low level, the warp ends being drawn between them. The warp ends are now held together by any con venient means, as. for example. by means of a clamp consisting of two rods or bars I; which are applied on opposite sides of the yarn and then turned one upon the other. The warp beam 7/, which is supported in bearings in the frame of the compensator, has been wound sin'iilarly to beam at, and the long ends thereof are pulled around a guide rod or roller '0 to about the point a? and these ends are held in fixed relationship by means of apply-ing and manipulating a clamp consisting of two rods 1." in the same manner asrods 1. are applied and manipulated. This stage of the operation is indicated in Fig. 8. The clutch (1 is now thrown out and the shaft 2 turned to lift the tension Operatorsnow proceed to knot, twist or' tie the corresponding ends of the Warp threads on'the two warp beams. During this operation, the loonris uninterruptedly continuing its operation and the unwinding of both the longand short warp ends from the beam a continues; the rods '5 rising and the rods descending to take up further slack in the short ends of yarn, uniform tension thereon being maintained by means of weights w. Fig. 10 illustrates the stage at which both the long and short warp ends have been about completely unwound from the beam (1. The holding rod 6 is now withdrawn, freeing the warp from the beam (1, the slack thus produced being immediately taken up by the compensating device, as shown in Fig. 11. If the knotting of the yarn has not been completed, it. is continued as the yarn continues to feed toward the loom, during which the tension rods 2' move down, and the rods j move up, againstthe tension of the weights -.w, until ultimately the rods i and j have passed each other and the yarn assumes the position shown in Fig. 12. Before this time the knotting operation will have been completed. At this time it is best to stop the loom. By means of the crank on shaft 2? the weights to are now raised, which moves tension rods 11 to the bottom of the compensator frame and tension rods 7' to the top, leaving a free and unobstructed space in front of the warp beam b, as shown in Fig. 13. The rods '0, 2." and 3 are now removed, and the warp beam Z) is turned to take up the slack, as shown in Figs. 14 and 7, when the exhausted beam (1 is removed, and the full wound beam 2) is substituted therefor. Any suitable ten sion device may be used to maintain the tension on the yarn between the beam 1) and the loom harness while the beam is being transferred to its proper position on the loom.

The beam 1) having been wound similarly to the beam (1, its short ends can be connected to the long ends of a third similarly wound beam. It will be appreciated that the time during which the loom is idle is practically negligible. The only wastage of yarn is that. incidental to pulling the knots through the hddles and reed, which will not exceed a foot. It will therefore be understood that the wastage of yarn is also negligible.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. The art of renewing warp in'a loom which comprises preparatorily so beaming a. set of warp threads as to provide relatively long free ends and relatively short free ends, weaving in the warp threads starting with the long ends thereof. and upon the unwinding of said short ends on the approach of exhaustion and while said threads continue to feed toward the loom during the weaving operation, attaching the relatively short free ends to the respective extremities of another set of warp threads.

2. The art of renewing the warp in a loom during the weaving operation which comprises preparatorily beaming a set of warp threads so as to leave the inside ends thereof free from the beam, weaving in the warp threads starting with the outside ends thereof, attaching the extremities of said inside ends, upon unwinding on the approach of,

exhaustion, and while said threads continue to feed toward the loom during the weaving operation, respectively to the outside extremities of another set of warp threads, and maintaining tension upon said free ends during the warpattaching operation.

3. The art of renewing the warp in a loom during the weaving operation which comprises preparatorily bean'iing a set of warp threads so as to leave the inside ends thereof free from the beam, weaving in the warp threads, bringing the extremities of said free ends, upon unwinding on the approach of exhaustion, into operative relation with the free extremities of another set of warp threads, taking up the slack in said free ends, and attaching the corresponding warp threads of the two sets while the warp threads of the first set continue to feed toward the loom during the weaving operation. f

4, The art of renewing the warp in a loom during the weaving operation which comprises preparatorily beaming a. setof warp threads so as to leave the inside ends thereof free from the beam, weaving inthe warp threads, bringing the extremities of saidfree ends, upon unwinding on the approach of exhaustion, into operative relation with the free extremities of another set of warp threads, attaching the corresponding warp threads'of the two sets while the warp threads of the first set continue to feed toward the loom during the weaving operation, and maintaininga tension on said free ends as they feed to the loom during the weaving operation. y

5. The art of renewing the warp in a loom which comprises prep-aratorily \Vll'ld'. ing a set of warp threadsf on a beam by starting the winding at a point distant from the extremities thereof so as to wind on the beam a double section ofeacli thread until said extremity is reached and thereafter a single section of each thread until the winding is completed, whereby afterthe beam is ing a set of warp threads on a beam by start;

ing the winding at a point distant from the extremities thereof so as to wind on the applied to the loom, the free loose ends beam a double section of each thread until said extremity is reached and thereafter a single section of each thread until the winding is completed, whereby after the beam 1s applied to the loom, the free loose ends thus formed will start to unwind before the sections of warp threads adjacent the free ends are unwound from the beam and while the threads continue to feed toward the loom during the weaving operation, attaching the extremities of free loose ends to the respective forward extremities of corresponding warp threads on another beam, and then imposing an automatic tension on the said free ends between the two beams to take up the slack as the unwinding of the first beam proceeds and allow the said free ends to feed toward the loom after the unwinding is completed.

7. In the beaming of warp threads preparatory to the renewing of the warp in a loom, the step which comprises starting the winding of a set of warp threads upon the beam at a point distant from their extremities so as to wind on the beam first a number of turns of a double section of each thread and then a single section of each thread so as to leave a set of loose ends of suflicient length for attachment to the re spective threads of another set of warp threads, while the first set of warp threads is feeding toward a loom.

8. In the beaming of warp threads preparatory to the renewing of the warp in a loom, the step which comprises winding a relatively small length of the set of warp threads temporarily upon a dummy beam, attaching the set of threads across an unwound section thereof, to the regular beam, and then winding the set of threads upon the regular beam while permitting the dummy beam to unwind.

9. In an auxiliary loom mechanism, the combination with the 100111, of a warp beam, a set of warp threads thereon in operative relation with the loom and so applied to the beam as to leave free or loose inside ends, a second warp beam and a set of warp threads thereon, said inside ends, upon unwinding, and as the first set of warp threads continue to feed toward the loom during the weaving operation, adapted for attachment to the warp threads of the second beam, and a compensating device between the two beams adapted for engagement with said loose ends during their attachment to the corresponding threads on the second beam.

10. In an auxiliary loom mechanism, the combination with the loom, of a warp beam, a set of warp threads thereon in operative relation with the loom and so applied to the beam as to leave free or loose inside ends, a second warp beam and a set of warp threads thereon, two sets of transversely extending members between which said loose ends upon unwinding may be drawn for attachment to the corresponding threads on the second beam, while the first set of warp threads continue to feed toward the loom during the weaving operation, and tension means tending to move said sets of members to take up the slack, but adapted to allow said members to move in the reverse direction during the advance movement of said loose ends 1n the weaving operation.

11. In an auxiliary loom mechanism, the combination with the loom, of a warp beam, a set of warp threads thereon in operative relation with the loom and so applied to the beam as to leave free or loose inside ends,

a second warp beam and a set of warp threads thereon, two sets of transversely extending rods between which said loose ends upon unwinding, may be drawn for attachment to the corresponding threads on the second beam while the first set of warp threads continue to feed toward the loom during the weaving operation, said rods being movable to reverse their positions and thereby take up the slack in said free ends, tension means operating upon said rods to maintain them in operative position but allowing the rods to yield to allow said ends to feed forward and means to move said rods into position to allow the second beam to be moved into position to replace the first beam.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand at Philadelphia, Pa., on this 12th day of December, 1918.

THAYER P. GATES. 

